


Chance

by annabeth_writes



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe, F/M, Mild Spoilers, s2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 13:31:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17488931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabeth_writes/pseuds/annabeth_writes
Summary: Karen gets a phone call.





	Chance

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this right after finishing off the series because I wanted a different ending so here we are. It's not long but it's satisfying for me.

She saw the girl first. Karen couldn’t really remember ever getting her name. Not in the hospital, when all of Karen’s focus was on Frank. Trying to help him and trying to reach him all at once. It didn’t work. Not the way she wanted. The only thing she walked out of that hospital with was an empty ache in her chest and the horrible thought that, yet again, that could be the last time that she ever saw Frank Castle. Then she got the call, in the middle of the office with a dozen different case files laid out on her desk and too much coffee in her system.

The girl introduced herself as the best nurse that never was before giving Karen the information that she needed. Now here she was, watching that girl walk slowly towards a bus headed for another state, leaving behind the hooded figure that sat hunched in a chair. Before she got to the steps, the girl glanced over her shoulder, her eyes lingering on Frank for several long seconds before flitting to Karen. They stared at each other, unspoken communication passing between them.

Karen nodded and the girl smiled just slightly, hitching her bag up higher on her shoulder before turning to board the bus. Only then did he stand, clearly favoring several different areas of his body. She couldn’t grasp the fullest extent of his injuries, even when he turned around and came face to face with her. Even when she saw the cuts across his face and the oh so familiar discoloration of his skin. Bruised and broken was nothing new. Karen could deal with that. It was the distance between them, not all of it physical, that she didn’t know how to conquer.

This tension had never been there before, even in the midst of shootouts and being used as bait in that diner and “ _ I’m already dead _ .”

He stared at her and she stared back, neither of them making a move to cross the space between them. The world didn’t stop turning even if it felt like it might, in that moment. People went about their days all around them, unaware of the silent battle happening right in their midst. Karen simply stood there, looking and looking at the man who couldn’t stop rushing headlong into war. Who shrouded himself in violence and blood and death. Who she should be running from but who she couldn’t help but love.

Love.

She’d tried to say it. The words died on her lips, coming out in other ways.  _ It doesn’t change the way I feel about you. _ Part of Karen wondered if Frank tried to say it too. If the words tasted like ash on his tongue because love never brought him anything good. She knew that he feared it more than he feared any man or weapon. Karen understood it and yet the bitterness rose in her chest as she remembered his words. The sharp rejection. The plainly stated “ _ I don’t want to”  _ shot her way like a speeding bullet. Frank took a step forward and she stood her ground, crossing her arms over her chest as she wondered why she was even there when chances were that she’d hear the exact same thing.

“The kid gave you a call, huh?” he asked, taking another few steps.

Karen shrugged, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear.

“Guess she thought we had more to talk about.”

He huffed out a sigh, looking at everything and everyone but her.

“Listen, Karen… I-”

“Stop.”

His eyes settled on her again, widening slightly at her abrupt interruption. In truth, Karen didn’t want to hear it. She didn’t think that she  _ could _ hear it. Not again.

“You look like hell, Frank,” she said, closing the rest of the distance between them as she spoke quietly.

“Yeah, can’t argue with that,” he said, the corner of his mouth ticking up just slightly.

Karen stared at him blankly, refusing to be swayed.

“You need to rest,” she said, pushing her hands into the pocket of her coat. “I know a place with a great couch.”

Wariness crossed his face and he opened his mouth to speak but she held her hand up, silencing him again.

“That girl didn’t want to leave knowing you’d be alone, at least not at first,” Karen said, nodding over his shoulder at the empty spot where the bus once was. “I told her you wouldn’t be. Don’t make a liar out of me, Frank.”

He shook his head, shoving his own hands in the pockets of his jacket.

“Goddamn kid’s a pain in my ass even now,” Frank muttered.

Karen pressed her lips together to keep from smiling, hearing the slightest traces of affection in his words.

“Just one night,” she said with a sigh, knowing better than to ask for more. “Then you’re free to disappear as you please.”

A look crossed his face. Something almost like longing. But it was gone as quickly as it came and Karen didn’t even try to pull at that thread. Not again.

“One night,” he relented.

Karen nodded, turning slowly on the spot. She knew he’d follow her but she didn’t quite expect him to fall into step with her. They made their way through the station at an even pace, neither walking too fast nor too slow, in perfect sync with one another. Karen almost hated it, knowing how easy it would be with them. As easy as breathing, if he’d just let himself fall. But she wasn’t going to ask him for that again. Not that she didn’t want it, but she wasn’t going to be the one this time. It would have to be him.

One night.

One more chance.

**Author's Note:**

> I would love to hear what you think!


End file.
